China leads successful wildlife crime crackdown

BEIJING - Over 200 wildlife product trafficking cases were cracked and more than 100 criminal suspects apprehended in a multinational crackdown, China's wildlife watchdog said Sunday.

China led the operation involving 22 Asian and African countries from January 6 to February 5, the State Forestry Administration said.

Through the operation codenamed "Cobra," 6.5 tonnes of ivory, 1.6 tonnes of shahtoosh, 22 rhino horns, 10 tiger hides, as well as other protected animal and plant species and products derived from them, were confiscated.

The operation marked the first time for China to lead a cross-continent joint crackdown on such crimes.

Yin Hong, vice director of the administration, said the operation shows the country's resolution and capability to push forward multilateral cooperation to crack down on the trafficking of wildlife products.